Why Choose an Ergonomic Computer Chair?
There’s a good chance that you’re reading this because you’ve long realized you spend the majority of your day sitting on a chair as you complete your tasks. Perhaps you’re curious about all the ergonomic hype or already have an idea of what it is but you’re not quite sure yet if it’s something you want for yourself. Well, you’re in luck. This post will give you a quick rundown of everything you need to know about why ergonomic chairs are important.
What are the Benefits of an Ergonomic Computer Chair?
Proper Posture is practically the most important feature of all. An ergonomic chair will promote proper posture at all times. This is not meant to make you all hoity toity, it actually promotes a lot of advantages for your body and overall wellness. This includes:
- Prevent neck pain – this is one of the most common types of pain associated with poor posture while working for prolonged periods.
- Minimize eye strain – because you’ll be forced to stay at a certain distance and height as you work, your eyes will be at its optimum position. This prevents eye strain that can easily happen if you’re just working from whatever distance, angle, and position.
- Promote proper blood circulation – your legs will be highly encouraged to stay flat on the floor as you sit. With the proper height and angle of sitting, your legs will thank you for the encouraging blood flow that is often restricted when using a regular chair.
- Lower the risk of carpal tunnel and other potential arm and hand injuries – your arms will always be parallel to the floor. And as you do this constantly, you’ll realize that any pain you’d usually have for working still while sitting for long periods are minimized—if not completely gone. Just like your legs and feet, staying in a proper position will allow and encourage proper blood flow that will keep your arms, hands, wrists, and fingers healthy even when you tend to overwork them for days on end.
Comfort is the name of the game – above all the benefits of a good chair is comfort. And ergonomic computer chairs will give you exactly that. It might feel a little weird at first because you feel constricted or your posture is automatically corrected for you, but in a day or so, you’ll never want to part from it again. You’ll find yourself breezing through all your work comfortably—if not happily. And everyone wants to be happy even if it’s impossible to believe that a mere chair can do that.
Anatomy of an Ergonomic Computer Chair
Now that you know how these chairs can benefit your health, let’s take a quick rundown of the parts of an ergonomic computer chair. Not all models have all of these in the checklist, but you’ll be sure to find a good majority of them in any variation available. If you want to go the whole nine yards, then look for one with everything on the list.
- Headrest – some of these are adjustable while others are in a fixed position. This allows you to have support for your head instead of landing in an empty space when you decide to lean back and lay your head back.
- Backrest – this comes in a variety of heights. Some are low that only covers your lower back, some are midback that supports your back midway, and others are full back height that can support up to your shoulders. Backrest material also varies. Some are made from leather (both synthetic and cowhide leather), while others are covered in fabric upholstery. The most common ones are mesh material which gives it a breathable feature that will keep you cool.
- Armrests – ergonomic chairs will come with a pair of armrests. But! Not all armrests were created the same. Some are fixed, others can be folded or tucked away, and others still are bragging adjustable widths and heights. That way you can set it specifically according to your height and comfort.
- Height Adjustments – most computer chairs are pneumatic and easy to adjust according to the height that you need. But what you need to check here is not if it can actually lift or release the height adjustment (since it most definitely has one), but rather the ease of lift and release. Some come in paddles while others are in stick form with a nylon cap.
- Tilt Tension Control – we all want to tilt the chair back a bit every once in a while. Like a mini form of stretching without getting of your seat. But, some chairs have a specific knob that will help set the tension while others have the ability to lock it in place based on the setting you choose.
- Lumbar Support – some of these are in a fixed position, others are detachable, and others still are adjustable and inflatable. This is an important feature as it provides your back good support while you sit for long periods without allowing strain on your back that prevents pain from developing. This also promotes good posture as you sit.
- Seat Cushion – much like the backrest, this comes in a variety of materials. All of which covers the cushion base that can either be made from heavy duty foam, memory foam, or slow-rise foam. Some of these have indentations that suggest where you should be positioned and also where your hips should stay. That will give your body good posture and maintain the position to keep yourself comfortable at all times.
- Chair Base – there are only 2 kinds of bases: nylon and metal base. This is the actual “foot” that supports the whole weight of the chair. Both are durable and often comes with non-marking dual caster wheels.
- Footrest – this is actually a bonus feature for some chair models. This allows you to just pop out the footrest when you want to raise your legs for a little bit so you can ease up and relax.
While the parts of the chair are basically all the same, each component has a variation that you may want to consider before getting yourself an ergonomic computer chair.
